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tbc Wesliyan JIrgus.
THE COLLEGE PAPER.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST' OF THE ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY AND
ITS STUDENTS.
VOL. 10. BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1904. NO. 20
The Olympic Games.
In June, 1894, the International
Athletic Congress, which numbers a-bout
twenty members, belonging to the
chief nationalities of Europe and
America, met at Paris, and decided to
reestablish the Olympian games. It
was voted to hold the first celebration
at Athens in April, 1896. This decis-ion
was received with delight by the
inhabitants of the little kingdom of
Greece, and preparations were at once
begun for the reception and entertain-ment
of the visitors, and for the worthy
reproduction of the games.
On account of the distance and the
somewhat unfavorable season of the
year, not more t.han a dozen American
athletes were present, these represent-ing
four Eastern colleges. In the con-tests,
however, they were very success-ful,
and, with but few exceptions, in
every event in which they took part,
secured highest honors. Four years
later, in Paris, the games were again
held, and in them the Americans car-ried
off a fair share of honors. The
next meeting, in 1904, will be held at
St. Louis.
These international games, while, in
some respects, they may surpass those
of ancient Olympia, will never have the
splendor of those held in the days when
Pindar sang of their matchless glory,
and when artists, poets, musicians,
philosophers, and historians came both
to gaze and to contribute to the charm
of the occasion.
The Greek, when Greece was at the
height of her power, moved in an ath-letic
atmosphere. Gymnasia were in all
cities, towns, and villages, in which all
classes trained for the various contests,
held in many parts of the country. The
gymnasium was the clubhouse. There
gathered young men and old to enjoy
the beautiful sight of a well-developed
human body in action. He was king
among men who was most beautiful
and most strong.
Of all the contests or games which
the Greeks held, the most important
was in the province odEfl is, at Olympia,
sacred to the worship of Zeus. There,
each fourth year, just after the summer
solstice, gathered the people, not only
of Greece itself, but also large embas-sies
from Asia and Africa and from the
islands of the sea. A sacred truce of
one month was proclaimed by the her-alds,
and business and war alike were
suspended.
The games were opened with evening
sacrifices, which extended far into the
night, to the king of gods. The next
morning the contests began, and con-tinued
for several days. In the sight
of thousands, standing with uncovered
heads, under the burning sun-for thus
they honored the god-in the deep dust
about the stadium,the flower of Greecian
manhood contended for immortal glory.
The oldest of all competitions, and
the only contest for thirteen Olympiads,
was the dromos or stadion, which con-sisted
in running the length of the course,
or two hundred yards. In this contest
swiftness of foot and suppleness of limb
darried the day. After the fourteenth
Olympiad a double race was run, in
which the contestants turned at the end
of fhe course and finished at the start-ing-
point. Somewhat later, another
race was added, which was a trial of
endurance as well as speed. It consisted
of running twelve, twenty, or twenty-four
times the length of the course, or from
one and one-half to three miles.
Wrestling, which by Plutarch is called
"the most artistic and cunning of ath-letic
games,"' was introduced in the
eighteenth Olympiad. In all the games
the contestants were naked, their bodies
being rubbed with oil to prevent exces-sive
perspiration, and, in the case of
wrestlers, covered with fine sand.
In the same year with the wrestling
contest, a combination of five games,
called the pentathlon, was introduced.
The principal feature of this was the
jumping contest, either running, stand-ing,
or from a spring-board.
Boxing was added about the twenty-third
Olympiad. In this the contestants'
hands were covered with thongs of
leather, which probably served to protect
the hand and add to the force of the
blow.
Chariot-racing, the most exciting of
all contests, was later introduced. The
course, in this, was encircled twelve
times, and he who came out victorious
was indeed skillful. Other contests were
from time to time added, among them
being races on horseback, and contests
for children.
The judges were from eight to twelve
in number. Their first duty was to
examine the elegibility of the candidates.
No one, unless of pure Grecian blood,
no one convicted of crime, or no one
from a city having incurred divine wrath,

The Argus, Illinois Wesleyan University; printed by The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL from 1894-2009 and P&P Press, Peoria, IL from 2009-present.

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Argus issues published from 1894-Spring 2003 were scanned at 600 dpi on a NM1000-SS scanner by Northern Micrographics, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Fulltext OCR was accomplished by the same company in Summer 2009. Issues published from the fall of 2003-present are born-digital.

tbc Wesliyan JIrgus.
THE COLLEGE PAPER.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTEREST' OF THE ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY AND
ITS STUDENTS.
VOL. 10. BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1904. NO. 20
The Olympic Games.
In June, 1894, the International
Athletic Congress, which numbers a-bout
twenty members, belonging to the
chief nationalities of Europe and
America, met at Paris, and decided to
reestablish the Olympian games. It
was voted to hold the first celebration
at Athens in April, 1896. This decis-ion
was received with delight by the
inhabitants of the little kingdom of
Greece, and preparations were at once
begun for the reception and entertain-ment
of the visitors, and for the worthy
reproduction of the games.
On account of the distance and the
somewhat unfavorable season of the
year, not more t.han a dozen American
athletes were present, these represent-ing
four Eastern colleges. In the con-tests,
however, they were very success-ful,
and, with but few exceptions, in
every event in which they took part,
secured highest honors. Four years
later, in Paris, the games were again
held, and in them the Americans car-ried
off a fair share of honors. The
next meeting, in 1904, will be held at
St. Louis.
These international games, while, in
some respects, they may surpass those
of ancient Olympia, will never have the
splendor of those held in the days when
Pindar sang of their matchless glory,
and when artists, poets, musicians,
philosophers, and historians came both
to gaze and to contribute to the charm
of the occasion.
The Greek, when Greece was at the
height of her power, moved in an ath-letic
atmosphere. Gymnasia were in all
cities, towns, and villages, in which all
classes trained for the various contests,
held in many parts of the country. The
gymnasium was the clubhouse. There
gathered young men and old to enjoy
the beautiful sight of a well-developed
human body in action. He was king
among men who was most beautiful
and most strong.
Of all the contests or games which
the Greeks held, the most important
was in the province odEfl is, at Olympia,
sacred to the worship of Zeus. There,
each fourth year, just after the summer
solstice, gathered the people, not only
of Greece itself, but also large embas-sies
from Asia and Africa and from the
islands of the sea. A sacred truce of
one month was proclaimed by the her-alds,
and business and war alike were
suspended.
The games were opened with evening
sacrifices, which extended far into the
night, to the king of gods. The next
morning the contests began, and con-tinued
for several days. In the sight
of thousands, standing with uncovered
heads, under the burning sun-for thus
they honored the god-in the deep dust
about the stadium,the flower of Greecian
manhood contended for immortal glory.
The oldest of all competitions, and
the only contest for thirteen Olympiads,
was the dromos or stadion, which con-sisted
in running the length of the course,
or two hundred yards. In this contest
swiftness of foot and suppleness of limb
darried the day. After the fourteenth
Olympiad a double race was run, in
which the contestants turned at the end
of fhe course and finished at the start-ing-
point. Somewhat later, another
race was added, which was a trial of
endurance as well as speed. It consisted
of running twelve, twenty, or twenty-four
times the length of the course, or from
one and one-half to three miles.
Wrestling, which by Plutarch is called
"the most artistic and cunning of ath-letic
games,"' was introduced in the
eighteenth Olympiad. In all the games
the contestants were naked, their bodies
being rubbed with oil to prevent exces-sive
perspiration, and, in the case of
wrestlers, covered with fine sand.
In the same year with the wrestling
contest, a combination of five games,
called the pentathlon, was introduced.
The principal feature of this was the
jumping contest, either running, stand-ing,
or from a spring-board.
Boxing was added about the twenty-third
Olympiad. In this the contestants'
hands were covered with thongs of
leather, which probably served to protect
the hand and add to the force of the
blow.
Chariot-racing, the most exciting of
all contests, was later introduced. The
course, in this, was encircled twelve
times, and he who came out victorious
was indeed skillful. Other contests were
from time to time added, among them
being races on horseback, and contests
for children.
The judges were from eight to twelve
in number. Their first duty was to
examine the elegibility of the candidates.
No one, unless of pure Grecian blood,
no one convicted of crime, or no one
from a city having incurred divine wrath,